Scope and content: This collection consists of the records generated through the normal activities of a military post. Included are letters to the commanding officer re the Riel Rebellion, Canadian Indians, and other topics re the Fort and military business [copies of original letters on MF 54]. The largest portion of the materials is bound volumes, including correspondence registers; orders; morning reports; court records; and other miscellaneous volumes and records.; Fort Assiniboine, at one time the largest active military post in the United States, was first garrisoned in 1879. It was located near the present town of Havre, Montana, on Beaver Creek, some six miles from the Milk River. Originally, the fort was established to control the Indian tribes north of the Missouri by keeping them on their reservations; to guard against the incursion into the United States of hostile Sioux who had earlier sought refuge in Canada; and to force roving hunting bands of Canadian Indians back across the border.; However, by the time of its completion in the mid-1880s, it had become obsolete. As its active role diminished, service at the fort became more and more routine, as was the case with most peacetime military establishments. Compounding the boredom and drudgery were the extremes of weather encountered on the high plains.; Units which served at Assinboine, either completely or as smaller detachments, included the First, Second, Third, Ninth, Tenth, and Thirteenth Cavalry regiments; and the Seventh, Twelfth, Eighteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-fourth Infantry regiments. Of interest in the history of the Assiniboine was the almost continual presence, from the mid-1880s through 1911, of units of the U.S. Army's four African-American regiments. At the outset of the Spanish-American War, all troops, except for a few custodians, were transferred for wartime service. Assiniboine was regarrisoned after the conclusion of hostilities and was decommissioned in 1911. Today only a few building remain of this most substantial western post.

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Fort Assiniboine was a military post located near present-day Havre, Montana, that was operated for many years by African-American soldiers. Records (1879-1906) include incoming correspondence re the Riel Rebellion, Canadian Indians, and other topics re the Fort and military business [original copies of letters on MF 54]. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence registers, reports, orders, and miscellany.